


Not Scared, Not Scared

by sxldato



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Sam, Protective Dean Winchester, Scary Movies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-27 02:45:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14415999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sxldato/pseuds/sxldato
Summary: Season 8. Sam and Dean see a movie and it goes badly.





	Not Scared, Not Scared

**Author's Note:**

> written for the Horror Movies bingo square  
> i would've written more about the actual movie but i've never seen Oculus and i dont really want to

Sam used to like horror movies, really really like them. Dean took him to see his first one when he was 13: Scream, in an old theater in Terre Haute, Indiana. He could still remember the squeaky seats and the popcorn that Dean accidentally knocked all over the aisle at a jump scare. It became a tradition; whenever they could find a break, they’d sit down and watch something scary.

Things were different now. A deep chasm called Hell separated Sam from his childhood, and it felt so far away.

Dean took him to see Oculus when it was first released. Sam hadn’t thought too hard about it, hadn’t realized how difficult it might be to sit through. They hadn’t been able to find time for this in a while, what with Sam coming back from Hell soulless and Cas releasing Leviathans. Then Dean had resurfaced from Purgatory and they’d had to rebuild a little bit. 

Sam had been so relieved when Dean suggested they go out and see the movie together; it meant things were getting better. Maybe Dean thought of him as a brother again.

Sam made it about halfway through the movie before he threw in the towel and ducked out of the theater. The brightness of the hallway hurt his eyes as he made his way to the restroom, adding to the anxious vertigo he already felt. He locked himself in the handicapped stall and sat down on the toilet with his head in his hands.

He hated himself for ruining this. It had been Dean’s olive branch and he hadn’t been able to take it, and why? Because he was too broken to handle some stupid movie that wasn’t even real? 

He wasn’t sure how long he was in there, struggling to get ahold of himself, but at some point Dean came in. He saw his boots from underneath the door.

“You okay, man?” 

“Yeah.” Sam swallowed hard against the lurching in his stomach. He would not throw up in this movie theater restroom, he would not.

“You sure?”

Sam paused. “… I don’t feel good.”

“Okay…” Another lapse of silence. “This probably wasn’t a great idea, huh?” 

Sam shook his head. “It’s not your fault.”

“You wanna go home?”

“I just need a minute.“ 

"You’ve been in here for a half hour. I think we should go home.”

Sam grit his teeth against the angry tears welling up in his eyes. This was humiliating.

“C'mon. Talk to me or I’m coming in." 

Sam didn’t want to say anything, and resigned himself to the rattling of the lock as Dean fiddled with it from the other side. Dean peaked around the door.

"Hey.” He stepped inside the stall, relocking the door behind him.

“Hey,” Sam croaked.

Dean squatted down in front of him and brushed the hair from his face. “So, I guess psychological horror is a no-go.”

Shame twisted in Sam’s stomach. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Dean assured him. He rested his hand on Sam’s knee, his thumb running over the denim there. “We can watch other kinds, if you want. And if any kind of horror sits bad with you, we won’t do it at all. No worries.”

“You were trying,” Sam protested. “And I fucked it up.”

“You didn’t fuck anything up,” Dean insisted, worry drawing his brows together into a deep furrow. “What are you talking about?”

Sam shook his head.

“Sammy, what’s wrong?”

“I wanna be brothers again.” Sam’s lower lip trembled. “And we were getting there, and I ruined it.”

Dean’s expression fell. “We don’t stop being brothers just ‘cause I’m mad. And I can be mad and still care about you, and still want to be brothers, you know?”

Sam ducked his head and stared at the tile floor, trying to blink back stinging tears.

“Hey, hey, you don’t need to cry about it…” Dean tore some toilet paper from the roll and gave it to Sam. “You’re alright, take it easy.”

Sam drew a shaky breath and wiped his eyes. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Dean looked a little shaken; it had been a while since he’d seen Sam like this. “Look at you, you’re all wound up…”

Dean wasn’t wrong. Sam was trembling and pale, not yet recovered from the movie and overwhelmed by the conversation they’d had. He felt sick to his stomach and weepy, and he was so desperate for Dean to understand why he’d done what he’d done. Or what he hadn’t done. 

“Can I take you home?” Dean asked. “I really think I should.”

Sam nodded and let Dean help him to his feet.

“No more horror movies,” Dean said as they left the theater. “We can do action, if you want. Or even some good old-fashioned rom-com.”

Sam managed a weak smile. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Dean repeated, keeping an arm tight around Sam’s shoulders while they walked to the car.


End file.
